Field
Exemplary embodiments relate to a curtain airbag apparatus and a method of manufacturing the same. More particularly, exemplary embodiments relate to a curtain airbag apparatus and a method of manufacturing the same, in which a diffuser pocket for distributing gas generated by an inflator into an airbag is installed in the airbag.
Discussion of the Background
In general, an automobile is provided with an airbag apparatus, which may be a safety apparatus inflated by gas that flows into the airbag, to protect an occupant at the time of an accident. An airbag apparatus may be installed at various portions of an automobile as necessary. An airbag apparatus may include a driver airbag apparatus mounted on a steering wheel to protect a driver seated in a driver seat, a passenger airbag apparatus mounted at an upper side of a glove box to protect a passenger seated in a front passenger seat, and curtain airbag apparatuses mounted at both sides in the automobile to protect heads of the occupants.
Among the airbag apparatuses, a curtain airbag apparatus is installed to be elongated in a front and rear direction of the automobile, inside an A-pillar and a C-pillar, which are disposed at upper sides of a front door and a rear door, through which the occupants get in and out of the automobile. The curtain airbag apparatus may include an inflator, which is a gas generator, and an airbag, which is deployed from the upper sides of the front door and the rear door while covering window glasses of the doors like a curtain, when gas generated by the inflator flows into the airbag. The curtain airbag apparatus may be disposed between the head of the occupant and the front door and the rear door, thereby protecting the head of the occupant at the time of a broadside collision of the automobile.
The inflator may be installed at a front upper end of the airbag, a rear upper end of the airbag, or a central upper end of the airbag. When the inflator is installed at the front upper end of the airbag, gas generated by the inflator is discharged toward the rear side in the airbag, such that the airbag is gradually inflated from the front side to the rear side. When the inflator is installed at the rear upper end of the airbag, gas generated by the inflator is discharged toward the front side in the airbag, such that the airbag is gradually inflated from the rear side to the front side.
As described above, when the inflator is installed at the front upper end of the airbag or the rear upper end of the airbag, the gas generated by the inflator flows in a single direction, such that the gas flows from the front side to the rear side inside the airbag, or flows from the rear side to the front side inside the airbag. However, when the inflator is installed at the central upper end of the airbag, the gas generated by the inflator may flow in two directions toward the front side and the rear side inside the airbag, and as a result, a diffuser pocket, which distributes the gas generated by the inflator to the front side and the rear side inside the airbag, may be utilized.
The diffuser pocket may be disposed in the airbag to be coupled to the inflator, and distributes the gas generated by the inflator to the front side and the rear side inside the airbag. However, because the inflator generates gas by exploding a gas generating medium included in the inflator, such that the gas discharged from the inflator into the diffuser pocket has a high temperature and high pressure, and because the diffuser pocket is made of a flexible material and manufactured by sewing, the diffuser pocket may be deformed by the high-temperature and high-pressure gas injected from the inflator, or the sewed portions thereof may be broken, such that the diffuser pocket may not properly distribute the gas into the airbag.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the inventive concept, and, therefore, it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.